Kool-Aid Hair Dye – The Complete Guide

As an alternative to harsh chemical hair dyes, using Kool-Aid (yes really!) to dye your hair is one of the simplest and most fun ways to change your look.

If you’re not familiar with Kool-Aid, it’s a flavored powder that you mix with water to make a fruit drink. But what does this have to do with coloring hair I hear you ask?

Well because Kool-Aid is available in a wide range of flavours and in individual packets a range of bright colors can be achieved, also Kool-Aid is a natural alternative to hair dye as it contains no harsh chemicals (obviously – because you drink it!)

The individual sachets make it easy to try different colors on your hair and you can create multi colored highlights, panels or an all over color – let your imagination go wild! Using the Kool-Aid powders will create a semi-permanent color which will stay on your hair for around eight weeks. However the overall color result will vary depending on the color of your natural hair.

Kool-Aid Color Combinations

Have fun trying out these colors and combinations:

Double Double Cherry

Bright Red

Triple Awesome Grape

Purple

Tropical Punch

Red Tint

Lime

Light Green

Blue Raspberry

Blue

Blue Raspberry + Grape

Electric Blue

Berry Blue + Lemon Lime

Turquoise

Lime + Blue Raspberry

Dark Blue

Try to avoid light colors like watermelon, lemonade and strawberry lemonade as they are unlikely to show up, and use sugar free Kool-Aid where possible to stop the hair becoming sticky.

Firstly decide on the color you want and then use a glass bowl to mix the Kool-Aid to get the desired end result (see the color combinations chart above). At this stage we are just mixing dry powder together to get an idea of the color.

Step 2

Once you’re happy with the color, add a little cold water to the powder to make a paste. The paste should be thick and creamy so add just a few drops at a time until you get the right consistency. If it is too thin then the color won’t take to the hair.

Step 3

Put a thin layer of petroleum jelly around your hairline and on your ears to stop the color from staining your skin and then make sure your clothes are protected. As with any hair color attempt, have towels on standby!

Step 4

Add a few drops of thick conditioner to the paste, then using the paintbrush or your fingers apply the paste to your hair and massage it in. Make sure it’s evenly distributed and that the color goes deep into the hair, which will create a level finish.

Step 5

Once applied, wrap your hair in cling wrap, or if you are creating colored sections or high-lights, wrap the hair in foil. This will help the color develop overnight. You can also wear a shower hat to sleep in to keep your foils in place.

Step 6

In the morning, rinse off the Kool-Aid and then shampoo and condition as normal. Your hair will be colored without any of the chemicals you find in regular hair dyes and you’ll have created your own individual look. Plus, your hair will smell fruity!

Remember if you have long hair that you may need to use several packets, and that if you have dark hair the shades will not show up as vividly and may just give you a tint of color. Also if you have blonde hair, please bear in mind that blue and yellow make green!

Kool-Aid Hair Dye - The Complete Guide, 3.9 out of 5 based on 97 ratings

Actually, she’s not wrong. It depends on many things, like how often you wash your hair, what shampoo/conditioner you use, and whether you touch up or not. There’s also methods to remove the color quickly

Hey I have light brown hair and I want to dye my hair with kool aid everyone says the blue turns into an ugly green but is it the same for the turquoise…. And does all the blues turn a ugly green color or just one specifically???

Sadly, the effects tend not to come out that strongly in dark hair. It depends how dark you are, but it’s definitely worth a try. The beauty is that the color will wash out really quickly, so you are free to experiment!

I have always used the boiling water method. All you do is get about a cup of water and add the color of kool aid that you want. Then you should put the colored water in a saucepan. Let the water get pretty hot (almost boiling) and then pour it into a seperate cup. Dip the desired amount of hair into the hot kool aid water for awhile (around 5 minutes). After the time is up let your hair dry. This method last for a VERY long time and gives you a very bright color!

The longer you live the color in, the better it will take to the hair. But if you are just looking for some fainter highlights on blonde hair, if you leave the color in for a few hours it should be enough to take (although it might not last more than a wash or two)

i have really dark brown hair and i wanted to put purple highlights and i’m not sure if it will stay for a long time and i want it permanently (forever) and i was wondering if you know a way that it can stay forever

Hi May. If you are wanted a permanent purple, you’re going to need something a lot stronger than kool-aid!

For dark hair to really take a vibrant color, you will need to bleach the highlighted areas first, and then apply a permanent hair color on top of the bleached areas. I love the affect your going for, and it will look really cool.

It can be a tricky job, so if you don’t want to go to the salon make sure you get an experienced friend to help you.

Hey Destiny. If you want it to last longer, I would recommend using boiling water, and use 3 packets of Kool-Aid. Even this might not show on really dark hair, although you should at least have a ‘glimmer’ of red which will look pretty cool

Hey Samantha. I’ve been a victim of the blue to green nightmare in the past, but this wont really be an issue with kool-aid. By the time the a normal color starts to fade and morph into a less appealing shade, kool-aid will have washed out completely. It’s a really gentle color, so if any time it does start to bother you, you can power wash it straight out. Good luck!

I have dirty blonde hair and i want to dye blue streaks for like 2 washes should i do the boiling water or the cold water conditioner one? How long should i leave it in for? Im doing it tomorrow and i need it to wash out after like three washes so i can take it out for school…

Hey Mollie, if you only want the blue to stay in for 2 washes then I recommend using cold water. Be careful though, it’s not an exact science so there is no guarantee that this will wash out in time for school. If it’s a risk you might be better off buying an official wash-in/wash-out color. Ther are some details here: http://www.haircolorcode.com/party-hair-color

I have wavy/semi-curly dark brown hair. I was planning to tint my hair with dark blue (from your colour chart above). How long would this last, and is there a way to make it visible without bleaching my hair? I’m going to apply it directly soon, and I wanted to know if there’s a way to naturally bleach my hair without damaging it..? (So I can get a better colour next time!)
Thank you so much.

To be honest with you, a kool-aid color might not show as anything more than a ‘hint’ of blue in dark brown hair. Getting your hair primed to take a more prominent blue would usually involve bleach, however there are some more natural solutions you can try, check out this article: http://www.haircolorcode.com/natural-hair-dye

Thank you Susie! I applied the “Dark Blue” mixture to my hair, and it kind of came out green.. My natural hair is black, and I think I’m just going to stick to dying it with a blue shade. Your link was very helpful, by the way!

You’re welcome Maria. Sorry to hear the kool-aid didn’t work out for you. Please let me know if you find a natural solution to lightening your hair enough for the blue to take, I’d be really interested.

Thanks for all the great information, it’s been quite helpful! Now I have dirty blonde wavy hair, with an ombré effect of lighter (grown out bleached) hair. I want to dye a couple of of my waves pink, and add purple to tips with the color bugs I have been currently using to make mermaid effect. Since I’ve been testing the waters with wash out colors, I’m ready for the next step.. I was thinkig about using manic panic semi perm but I find the kool-aid method pretty cool for a natural 90’s kind of method. I don’t see pink in your charts above, would it be possible for me to achieve a pink color?

I love the manic panic hair colors, definitely a good choice to be looking at. It’s tricky as none of the flavors we’ve looked at produce a naturally pink shade, the best way of getting this look is starting with one package of double double cherry, which will start at a pinkish color. You can add more mixture to go a bit brighter, but unfortunately it will eventually start to turn to red.

Your hair sounds great, I’m absolutely loving the ombré look. One idea that might suit you better is trying chalk, which will help you get a more vibrant pink look. It’s really in trend at the moment, check out this awesome guide.

Hey Casey, if you leave it in a little longer it might help the color take better to darker hair, but saying that it isn’t going to make a huge difference so make sure you wash it out a couple of hours after you wake up. If it’s not as vibrant as you’d like, you could always try using more packets of kool-aid in the mix.

Hey Pinkie Pie, first of all bravo on trying the blue raspberry and lime! Typically if you added more lime it would go from turquoise to a greener color, but the beauty of this product is if you don’t like the result it is easy to wash out.

I dyed my hair with koolaid and it lasted a whole lot longer than 8 weeks!! I dyed it at the end of January…and it is still in my hair. Granted, the color has changed…it started out as this super pretty bright teal/blue, but after a few weeks, it faded to a deep green, and that green has stayed in my hair forever. I actually cut my hair and the green was still there, and there is just a little left from the hair I didn’t cut. I dip-dyed my hair with the koolaid and it turned out AWESOME looking, my hair is red so the bright blue tips looked so cool. I’m actually going to do it again, but I’m trying a purple so that it doesn’t turn nasty green! I don’t think purple would really fade into any other color..would it? Anyways…with adding the Triple Awesome Grape Koolaid to my reddish brown hair, will it stay purple or will it turn a different color when it’s mixed with my hair color? Normally I would just try it but since it lasts so dang long in my hair, I want to be sure it’s the right color. Thanks!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s lasted so long for you. The most I’ve ever seen before was a week or so, and that was on super light hair. I absolutely love the sound of the blue tips, I might even try that one myself.

Do you have any pics you could share? If so I’d love to put them on our Facebook page.

Mixing the purple with your red/brown hair won’t cause any disasters (definitely no green will show up! lol) The only worry is that it might not show very strongly if you’re hair is particularly dark.

Hi Lilbit. Depending on your natural shade you might be able to get a maroon color. Lime, blue raspberry and double cherry will give a deep purple, but hitting a perfect maroon shade will depend on your natural color.

Yeah I really liked the way it looked, I just wish the blue had last longer because it only stayed for a few weeks before I was stuck with the deep green for the past few months. I have no clue why but my hair takes really well to anything I do to it. I have a picture of my hair right after I had dyed it with the blue tips that I could share, what is the link to the facebook page? I didn’t take any when it was green because I wasn’t very happy with the green against my red hair..haha Maybe it was the way I did it that caused it to stay so long because I did it differently than above. Anyways…the store was out of Koolaid brand in the grape flavor but I got a Great Value brand..will that work the same? Thanks!

I have dark brown hair basically 1B how well will it show up? I really want to try this cause I have a hool-aid that will give me the color i want in a sam club sized container!
please and thank you!!! ^^

Eek, not sure how the Great Value brand will work. They tend to be made up of the same formulas as the traditional brand so I imagine it will work the same, but wouldn’t want to say for certain. Let me know if it does, it will be a great tip to share with our followers.

I Quenya, on a 1B tone a Kool-Aid color won’t show up particularly well, but it will give you a nice tint that will look great when the light hits it. It will be a much more subtle color, but color still look great.

If you wanted a more vibrant red, you’d have to go down the route of lightening your hair first, which unfortunately would need something stronger than Kool Aid

Hey, ok so my hair is a dark brown and all i wanna do are the tips of my hair……do u think it will end up showing with only 2 packets? and if i am able to do it how long? and i wanna do it over nite but im afraid it mite stain my bed! Please Respond…..TYVM!

If your hair is really dark (level 1 or 2), it might struggle to take. There are no chemicals in the kool-aid so it simply stains the hair rather than strips it like a proper hair colorant.

It really depends what kind of finish you want, if you are looking for ‘tint’ of color then you should be fine, however if you are looking for a vibrant dip-dyed look (like Jesse J here) then you will need something a little stronger.

I just dyed my hair with the Great Value Grape kool-aid mix…it worked really amazingly well!! I was disappointed at first because the color when I first mixed it and poured it into the bowl looked really dark blue but on my hair, it turned out purple with a reddish tint! I did it differently than above though but it worked SO well. Gah I am so excited! It’s also kind of an ombre effect because I dipped it in a little more than i wanted but then I let the bottom part soak longer, so the bottom is dark purple and then it goes lighter into my natural hair color. Anyways, it works great with the Great Value kind!

I have a lighter shade of red hair and I was wanting a pale purple like a lila color. I was going to try to mix a blue and red to get the shade but I am worried it will not stick. I also am not sure if I should use the boiling water method or the conditioner method.
Any help would be awesome. (:

So, lats night I did the cold water conditioner koolaid dye method with tropical punch. Im a afraid to take it out.. Because I don’t know what the color will be like. And I dont know what to do after I take the dye out. Do I wash it or do i condition it. Im so confused. And I have kinna Dirty blonde hair so what is the dye going to show up as? Also how long will it stay in??? Xoxo.

The beautiful thing about using Kool-Aid to color your hair is that there is plenty of room to experiment with mixing colors, and if it goes wrong it usually fairly easy to wash out.

To hit a lilac your right in mixing blue with a little red, just have fun with it until you hit the perfect color.

The main difference between the two methods is how long the color stay in. We are hearing that using boiling water helps the color take for a couple of weeks, whereas using conditioner it can usually be washed out in a couple of days.

Hey I dyed all my hair with red koolaid. It worked really good but I’m getting worrie it won’t come out. I have brown hair. Every time I take a shower a little more comes out. My parents want it out now. I keep hearing people saying it doesn’t come out. How do I get it out? Please help!

– Your natural hair color (the darker it is, the quicker the kool-aid will lose visibility)
– The method you used to apply to your hair (did you use hot or cold water? how long did you leave it on?
– The amount of kool-aid you used

The longest I’ve heard of it being visible is a couple of months (mentioned in the comments above), however in my personal experience I’ve never seen it last more than a couple of weeks, and that was on platinum blonde hair.

Keep washing your hair and use a good conditioner (not a color protecting one! lol) and it will be gone before you know it.

Hi,
I have naturally brown hair but after many years of dyeing Im at a honey blonde with highlights, Id like to achieve a dark purple like Katy Perry, since I have a light base can that be achieved? If so with what color kool aid combo?
Thanks for your help

Going from honey blonde to a dark purple won’t be a problem, however I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going with Kool-Aid for that look.

Kool-Aid tends to come out in lighter pastel shades, so the purple would quickly fade to a violet color. The colors really do only stay in for a matter of weeks, so if you are just looking for a very short re-style then it will work, but if you want something more serious then I would advice using a semi-permanent color at least.

Let me know if what your plans are and I will hopefully be able to give you some more specific advice.

With black hair you are unlikely to get any real show of color from using kool-aid, however you should still be able to get a cool ‘tint of’ color which will show under certain lights. Just picture it, you turn around and as the sun catches your hair your friends see some awesome and awesome streak of blue!

In terms of color, blue or red are definitely the ones that will be the best match, and potentially most noticeable with black hair.

Hi there!
I used to have a blue streak on the underneath side of my blonde hair where it is a dark blonde/light brown. I was just hoping for an opinion on which method I should use and what shade of blue I should go for! I want it to last a long time! I’m trying to pick between turquoise blue and a bright blue! Any opinion would be appreciated! Thanks for your helpful article! xoxo

Sounds very cool. If you want to go for a longer lasting color, I would definitely recommend using the hot water technique. We’ve been trying it recently here at HairColorCode HQ, and it really does last longer.

In terms of color, I’ve found that the bright blue fades to a turquoise color as time goes on, so really you can have the best of both worlds!

Hey Amya, if you use 3 or 4 packets, you should get a really nice purple hint to your hair. It wont be a bright purple though, to achieve that look you’d need to go lighter first.

In regards to swimming, Kool-Aid is a really gentle dye as it doesn’t get deep into the hair particles. This makes it nice and easy to wash out, but at the same time it means it’s not strong enough to fully survive a trip to the pool. It won’t come out completely, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw a bit of purple water around you!

i have another question. can you go swimming after you dye your hair with kool aid because i wanna go swimming but i dont wanna go if i dye my hair because i dont want it to come out that soon if i do dye my hair

Hi!
My friend and i thought it would be a fun idea to dip dye our tips for the summer. I had some questions though, we’re both blonde, and I wanted to dye it red or pink. Do you know how long it will last? And, also, does it damage our hair in any way?

Hey Cami, the dip dyed blonde look is huge right now, so you and your friend are going to look great this summer! If you use the cool water and conditioner method above it won’t last more than a few weeks (it can come out much quicker though depending on how often you wash it). If you use the hot water method mentioned in the comments, you might be able to get it to last all summer!

If you guys give your hair a good wash and condition prior to swimming, you will get rid of the excess color and any that hasn’t fully taken. That’s not saying that you wont see any color run in the swimming pool, but you should be safe from leaving an obvious green/blue/pink trail

Hi, I have light blonde hair and am thinking about mixing Blue Rasberry and Grape, to get the electric blue color shown above. The only thing I worry about is my hair turning green, because I noticed that there is a comment above saying blue and yellow will turn green in a blonde’s hair. Is that only when mixed, or everytime? Thanks so much for your time! (:

Don’t worry, the mix doesn’t automatically go green. Blue and Yellow naturally make green if mixed 50/50. To get the electric blue, I would recommend a split of 80/20 with the majority of the mix being the Blue Rasberry.

If at any point you feel there is green coming through, just add more blue

To get a turquoise effect on dark brown hair you would need to lighten the desired areas first. If you applied kool-aid or any other temporary hair color to your dark hair, it would simply show as a ‘tint’ rather than the full color.

If you’re confident at home hair color (or know someone who is) you can lighten the hair using a store kit, and then apply a temporary color once it’s settled.

Although swimming won’t do any damage to the hair color, there may be some wash-out in the pool. Make sure you’ve given your hair a thorough wash and condition the morning after coloring, and this will keep any wash-out to a minimum.

From my experience the colors kool-aid colors aren’t vibrant enough to get a true burgundy color, however if you mix red and purple, or red and blue, it may be possible to get a deeper purple (depending on your natural hair color).

Kool-aid colors come out in pastel shades, so if you do want a darker or deeper color it might be better to consider a temporary hair colourant.

in the colors you said avoid light colors like watermelon strawberry lemonade and lemonade but if you use a lot of packets of watermelon or strawberry lemonade will it make your hair pink. i have really dark brown hair will it show up

If you hair is dark unfortunately you won’t be able to achieve a true turquoise color without lightening your hair first. If you color it without lightening it you will see a tint of the shade in your hair in certain lights, but it wont effect the day to day color.

I like your style, it sounds like it’s going to look great! It’s entirely possible to do three separate colors using the boiling water technique, although it will take some time and patience. Basically you’ll need to do one color at a time, and depending on how confident you are in your application skills, you might want to cover the strands you aren’t coloring with kitchen wrap so there is no overlap.

I read your article, and i really enjoyed it! I’m thinking about dying the tips of my hair a cherry/dark cherry red color. My hair is naturally a brown/light brown color, and in the sun you can see a few highlights of blond, and red. all of my hair is natural! people say it looks a little bit like an auburn color. My hair is long, and really curly. I was hoping if i dye my hair, it would last about 3 to 4 weeks, and i want it to look vibrant, like really vibrant! lol. which method( cold water or hot water) would work better? Also what colors of koolaid should i use(should i mix any colors together)to get a cherry/dark cherry red color? How many packets of koolaid should i use? How long should i leave the dye in my hair? Also does it harm your hair in any way? After i dye my hair, how long should i wait until rinsing/washing my hair? Is there anything else i should know about dying my hair with koolaid a cherry/dark cherry red color. Any tips or info.? Thanks sooooo much! I really appreciate it!

I have auburn red hair, and last night I dyed it with grape koolaid and it turned black..so I wrapped it up in plastic wrap and went to bed and woke up this morning and washed my hair and the color is completely gone. it looks as if I never dyed it. I didn’t use your method though, I found a method on a website that said to add drops of boiling water to the koolaid powder and mix it up to a paste and apply it to the hair and wrap it in plastic.. either that method doesn’t work, I did it wrong, or it’s the color of my natural hair that’s the problem.. what do you think?

It sounds like your hair is too dark to take to the Kool-Aid color. The colors come out in a really light pastel shade (like the photo in the article), so if you have a naturally auburn color it might be just too dark to show.

Saying that, how many packets did you use? It might be worth trying a little more to see if you can get it to take. If that doesn’t work, I’m afraid you will have to consider a temporary hair dye to get the look you want.

Sadly, you wont be able to achieve the kind of vibrancy needed for Ariana Grande’s look using kool-aid. These colors come out very light, the opposite of dynamic really. To get this kind of effect you would need to use a temporary color, or one of the awesome semi-permanent colors from the likes of Manic Panic or Fudge.

One thing I want to say though; your natural hair sounds absolutely amazing!! Very jealous right now

Hello. I dyed the tips of my hair with the Tropical Punch packet [red] and used the boiling water method. It’s been about two weeks and the color has definitely faded but the tint of red it still visible. I really want to try out purple, but I’m not sure if the color I already have on my hair will affect the color I’ll get with the purple. Should I wait for the red to fade out completely or do you think it’ll be fine?

To go for a red using kool-aid just stick with the cherry flavor, but it wont come out as vibrant as you like. Have you seen the pillar box red from Fudge? That might be a better option for you (although more permanent that kool-aid.

It’s unlikely you will get much of a show at all on black hair, so definately go for the full red and use a good three packets. You still might not see much color in the result though as the kool-aid shades tend to come out quite light.

hi susie i just dyed my hair with the tropical punch kool-aid last night, and i was wondering if im going to splish splash tomorrow will it come out fade or just stay the same. is there any ways i can protect my hair, maybe not going under water and putting my hair up in a bun what should i do???

If you read through the comments you will see a few people have been in a similar situation. Kool-Aid isn’t a formulated hair colorant so sadly there isn’t any real protection against fade, and it will really be down to how much chemicals are used in the water park, and how well the dye has taken to your hair.

But to give yourself the best chance, make sure you give your hair a thorough was the morning after you’ve colored it (ideally with a color protect shampoo), and if you can put your hair up to keep it out of the water you should be okay.

Hey.
I was just wondering how that Ally girl dyed her hair with koolaid. She kept saying she dyed it differently than the ways you directed above and hers lasted a long time. I have dark brown hair and I’m thinking about tip dying or maybe just putting highlights in my hair with red because I was going to do blue, but I don’t want to risk green. Aha.
Thanks (:

Hi(:
I was just wondering how that Ally girl dyed her hair with koolaid. She kept saying she dyed it differently than the ways you directed above and hers lasted a long time, like, months, and thats what I’m interested in. Aha. I have dark brown hair and I’m thinking about tip dying or maybe just putting highlights in my hair with red because I was going to do blue, but I don’t want to risk green. DX Ahaha.
Thank youuu(:
Arya.

Yep, we have tried and tested Ally’s method of using boiling water, and it does work well and give a longer lasting color. For us it was a matter of weeks though and not months, but if you read through the comments you will see people who have managed to get some longevity out of the color.

I think I will add Ally’s method to the article as an alternative method

Aha okay thanks! The way I’ve always done it for my tips were just to take the powder, add like, not even a teaspoon of water, and TONS of white conditioner till its the consistency of hair dye. Then I just rub it in and let it sit. If you’re blonde and you use red, just two hours works, and for blue, you need four to six. If you’re s brunette, then I’m putting the Ted in for at least four to six hours. I haven’t tried the blue yet(: hopes this help for brunettes!
Arya.

Hello. I’ve been wanting to dye the ends of my dark brown hair with kool aid for a long time. Since I have darker hair, do you suggest that I bleach my ends before using the Kool Aid? I want a bright color & seeing the comments above it looks like I won’t get my desired bright color unless I bleach my ends.
Thanks,
Elizabeth

Hi, I used the hot Kool-Aid method on a tiny section on the back of my head, as a test trial. I have medium brown hair, but the Kool-Aid completely dyed my hair bright red! I’m happy with the results, although I was wondering how long thr results will last. Also, how do I get the color out, and if this is possible, will my hair return to the original color?

There seem to be mixed results using the hot water method. When I tried it it stayed around 2-3 weeks (and the usual method only lasts a week or so). However, if you read the comments above there are examples of people who have managed to maintain the color for several months.

The important thing to remember is that kool-aid is not designed to be used as a cosmetic product, so there are no hard and fast rules as to how it works, so should be used with caution.

To get rid of the color, it’s just a case of wash, wash and wash again

If your hair is red it’s unlikely that the kool-aid will be strong enough to give a full blue, and you’re likely to end up with a purple shade. This depends on how vibrant your red is, if it’s quite faint then there is a chance the blue will cover it (although still unlikely as the kool-aid colors really do come out quite light)

I have dark brown hair and I wanted to dip dye my hair blue….would that work or would red be better? And I know it’s better to bleach it but I don’t think my mom would allow that. And school starts in six weeks so would it come out by then because I was going to use the boiling method. Thanks.

Blue or red dip dye looks fab with dark brown hair so whatever you are feeling the most, go for it!

To ensure you achieve a bright shade you would need to use bleach, so if you think your mom would shout make sure you speak to her first. We can never guarantee that the color will fade but the more you wash your hair the more the color will fade so bare that in mind.

Hi Susie! You’ve done a great job on this and replying to everyone! Ive been interested in dip dyeing my tips! I have long light blonde beach hair! I either want the torquiose color or red/pink tint? Im going to try to kool aid combination this time! Will it sort of look like the last color in the photo at the top?! My hair is thick so should I lay back and layout my hair and have someone paint the color on? If so how long should I leave it in and how should I wrap it… With what? If I did this in the morning and rinsed it in the after noon left it in for 3-5 hours ? Also what woulf in fade to and how longz?! Sorry for sooooo many questions! Haha

– Yep, with blonde hair you will get the turquoise or red tint you see in the picture at the top. How strong it comes out depends on your natural hair color and the amount of product you use, but if you’re a blonde the colors will be quite close to the picture.

– If you are going for a did-dye effect, it might be better to site with your head down so gravity reveals the true ends of your hair, then apply the paste to the tips.

– To wrap it, you can use cling-wrap, or even tin foil (similar to applying highlights)

– 3-5 hours might not be long enough, realistically I’d suggest 8-10 hours to get the full effect.

Sooo like lean back on a chair and m somewhere! y hair hang down with a towel on the chair?! I dont want to sleep with it in BC im taking my permit test this week as well and friday im flying somewhere….. 2 more questions. Can I just hold it with wrap and a hair band ?? Also I change mypart often and its far over and there’s a puff like a wave haha so what should I do with that hair ??

Thanks. I was thinking a “bright” light blue color. And I have decided I am going to bleach a strand before dying with the Kool Aid so I can get more of the color I want.
Also, I was wondering what method you think works best or lasts longer, the conditioner method or boiling it on a stove. Thanks for your help.
~Elizabeth

Hi i just found your page after searching online for different colored hairstyles & etc…first of all thank you for sharing this i never knew you can use kool aid to dye your hair, its something i really want to try out now(:…. im thinking i might dye the tips of my hair, the color im not so sure yet but i was wondering since my hair is dark brown will most of the colors like maybe purple or a lighter blue show up as well??????

Hey. I am thinking about dyeing the tips of my hair with the bowling water method. My hair is a dark brown and it is naturally curly, which means it is very thick. I want to dye it pink but I have no idea which type of kool aid I should use but I don’t want it to look red. How many packets should I use and what kind do you think is best for my hair? Also I plan to keep it on overnight, is it a bad idea if I don’t wash my hair in the morning before I go somewhere? And do you think it will come out if I sweat? I am going to an amusement park and I don’t want it to come out while I am there but I don’t want the kool aid to stay in my hair for a long time. I don’t want the color to be to vibrant. Thanks

ok so im trying a strip befor i do my hole head to see if i like it and well i cant sleep with it in cause i have to get up at four and gogogo so i was wondering if i could just leave it on all day or just blow dry it for a lil bit

Pink on your brown hair sounds fab! You can buy pink Kool Aid (there are more colors than the ones shown on this page).

Generally, the more packets you use the stronger the pink will be so as your hair is thick, I would suggest to use a couple of packets at first and see how the color turns out. A good thing about Kool Aid is that it doesn’t last as long as using hair dye.

I wouldn’t think that sweat would be an issue, however you could tie it back to be on the safe side.

A lot of people dye their hair overnight and wash off in the morning which could be anything from 6-8 hours. There is no exact length of time but the longer you leave the mix on the stronger the color would be.

With Kool Aid there are no absolute guarantees and it does show up better on lighter hair. On dark hair it is more likely to show up as a tint but give it a go. Kool Aid does wash out easily if it is not the result you want.

Hey Ive been thinking of using koolaid on my hair and I had a q that I don’t really know who to ask and well I found your site and you seem to do a really good job answering q’s soo… what Im thinking of doing is bleaching highlights then coloring my whole head with the koolaid with the intent that the highlights would take the color better than my natural hair. So it would be reddish tint with red highlights. What I want to know is does it sound like a bad idea? And what about maintenance? I’m hoping by using koolaid the color wont last long enough for maintenance to be a problem. I think Manic panic would last too long. Thanks for any advice you have

That sounds like a good idea, a red tint is always eye catching. If you bleach your hair first it would work and create a stronger color.

Kool Aid may work for now we wouldn’t suggest you to use as a long term method, this really is a temporary product. However to help maintain the color and condition of your hair we always suggest to use color enhancing conditioning products and use them more often then you usually would.

The most popular dip dye color for dark hair is red. You may have seen people like Jesse J sporting a black and red dip dye look. I do need to warn you though that Kool Aid doesn’t show up as well on dark hair so it may take a few attempts.

i just wanted to add a ombre feel to my hair
but i just wanted to try it out for a few days or so
and didn’t want to go to the salon to get it permanently
done.but if the lemonade powder doesn’t show up i think that’s the way
im going to go.
thanx, Susie

Hi! I plan on coloring my hair purple. I have colored blonde hair. I’m curious as to whether the purple with turn out looking like a magenta-ish color (Like color hex: #ed24e0)or have more of a blue hue like lavender (color hex: #b57edc)?

Ello Susie,
I’m a cheerleader and our school colors are navy blue, teal, and white. I want to dip my hair using the hot water version but is there a way i can get navy blue or teal without it being a disaster? i have dirty blonde hair and i don’t want to mess up ANYTHING! :/

I’m thinking about dying my tips blue over the weekend bc my hair won’t take in walmart dye I buy so I’m hopping koolaid works… I have dirty blonde hair….. I asked people at school about how to do it and they said not to shampoo it because the dye will come right out… Is that true?

I would not rule it out as impossible, but it is a lot harder to dye black hair using this Kool Aid. To lift darker hair bleach is needed and as it there is no guarantee I would make sure this is definitely the shade you want before trying.

Hi! I have done aqua koolaid on the underneath-layer of my hair,(I am a dirty-blonde.) and would like to do it again. but since i just got highlights put in the top-layer. I’m now afraid that the dye will color my highlights!

Hi! I have done the aqua koolaid in the underneath-layer of my hair. (I’m a dirty blond.) I would like to do the same thing to my hair, but since I have gotten highlights on the top-layer of my hair, I’m afraid that the dye will color my highlights!!!!!!

I am interested in the kool-aid method for its temporary effects. I want to dye my hair red for a halloween costume. I have brown/light brown hair with a few natural highlights. I’m wondering if the red cherry kool-aid would work just for the weekend and if I would be able to wash it out by the time I went back to work on Monday. Obviously, I’d use the conditioner/cold water method as it seems to have a more short-term result, but how long are you supposed to leave the kool-aid mixture in your hair?

Hey! so I had a quick little question i have medium brown hair and i want to do a turquoise streak underneath my hair, should I use a lemon lime and a blue raspberry packet as suggested? *PLEASE ANSWER* THANK YOU <3

You should normally leave the mixture on for up to 8 hours, however if you don’t want as strong result then I would suggest to leave on for 4 hours. There are no guarantees with Kool Aid but hopefully with a few washes this should rinse out well.

If you are only coloring one section of your hair you can probably get away with using one sachet. Depending on how thick you hair is will depend on how many sachets you need to use and you can always add more.

I am an ashen blonde and I was planning on dying part of my hair into a pastel lilac shade using Kool Aid. I was wondering if it would be better to use the grape Kool Aid then let it fade or maybe mix it with conditioner to reduce the color, or to try and mix the blue and red together in hopes of getting a more muted shade.

I’m thinking of going red for halloween, and i’ve tried reading through the comments to see if this has been answered, but does it usually completely wash out in due time? and is it minimum 8 weeks?
I don’t want to have super red hair for longer than i have to :\
also, if we’re not doing it before we go to bed, how long approximately should the paste be left in hair?
Please&Thank You! :))

I would suggest to try the grape Kool Aid! If you don’t use too many sachets and don’t leave the color on as long you will most probably get the shade you are hoping for. Mixing the blue and red is a little more tricky.

Hey the black did fade to purple which turned red. But I really liked it! I never thought about that colour, but I loved it! So now I`m using tropical punch to do red, and I LOVE the look! Oh BTW if you get kool-aid stained on your skin, use soap and coffee grinds. I had bloody red hands(lol!), and did that. And your hands won`t smell like coffee, just soap. Just adding that because I HATE getting it on my skin.

Kool Aid is a very experimental product so bear in mind before you start…

Our tip to achieve this pink would be to mix Cherry Kool Aid with a white or light colored conditioner. This should lighten the shade of red to a pink. Mix in small amounts at a time and see how it goes.

Hi there! My little sister has light blonde hair and dip-dyed her tips pink using the boiling water method about two months ago. The color has faded a little but is still very visible in her hair. Now she is hoping to dye her hair back to a solid blonde shade without trimming the kool-aid color off, and is wondering if there will be any weird side effects because of the colored dye. Do you have any knowledge about this?

You can create purple by using Triple Awesome Grape. When you are creating the mixture, use a couple of packets of this Kool Aid and put little amounts of conditioner in at a time until you are happy with the color in the bowl.

Please be aware though that if your hair is darker there is a danger of the result turning out a lot darker, closer to black. Purple Kool Aid usually works better on lighter colored hair. What color is your hair?

Hi there! I wanted to try out the kool-aid dip dye for a whole now, but before I do, I have a couple of questions! My hair color is naturally really blonde at the front, then it fades to brown at the back. What color do you think would look the nicest? Also, how long will it last in my hair color? I was hoping 2-4 weeks, so which method (cold water or boiling water) would make that happen?

Kool Aid is a really good alternative to hair dye and can last up to 8 weeks, but it doesn’t come with guaranteed results so please keep in mind before using.

I recommend either method but usually the longer you leave the mixture on the stronger the color is. In terms of color for lighter hair, personally I think blues, pinks or purples looks fab. Have fun mixing up the colors too if you are feeling brave!

Hi again! I just finished doing my hair and it turned out great!:) I’m very pleased with the results. It is a red-purple-brownish color which I’m sure will
Fade away nicely. Thanks SOOOO much for all of the tips!:)

Hey Um I have Lightish/Darkish Brownish straight hair and I want to dye the lower part of my hair red using the boiling method since it’ll last longer, But I have a few questions before I do it I wanna know how much sachets I should use?(i want it to stay as long as it can) And how long I need to have it wrapped? And will the kind of conditioner affect the results?

I did the dip dye method on my daughters hair using grape koolaid, and it didnt turn out. she has dirty blonde hair and I tried the paste method but was told to do the koolaid with just water and I put it on and put foil on it and let it set for a while and took it out and rinsed it, it was all gone so I tried doing the boiling water method. I mixed about 6 packets of koolaid each time and dipped her hair and left it in there for 5 minutes and rinsed it out and conditioned it and it only did a light pink color. I must add I cannot find sugar free koolaid at any local store near me and used regular. How exactly can I do a bright purple color and actually get it to work and last the longest. Shes four years old but really wants purple hair so the overnight part wouldnt work for her!!! I go to a salon and get funky colors put in my hair in highlights and just did dark blue on only the ends and she loves it which has brought on the fad for her!!! please help us accomplish this!!!

I have dirty blond hair with auburn highlights in the sun and I want to dye hair with the boiling method. It won’t matter time wise because my school allows it. And I’m on the school wrestling team so I wear a cap(yes I’m a girl). I what to dye it electric blue or bright red. But I don’t really want the blue to turn green. Which color would show up better? How long should I leave my hair in the water?

Oh and my hair is fluffy and curly……… What conditioner is best? How many a packs do I need? Any other colors that would work well in my hair(just not purple)? I really like neon or bright colors? Any way to make it super bright? I’m just doing the tips of my hair all around.How long should I let it sit? How long till I wash my hair if I want it very bright? My colors are bright red, light/bright green, bright blue and electric blue, which ones best for me?

How many sachets you use depends on your hair type (length of hair, density of hair). We usually suggest that 2-3 sachets should do the trick but I would buy more just in case you need it.

In the article we suggest to use leave the mix in your hair overnight which is usually around 6-8 hours. For the conditioner, I would recommend using a reasonably good/well known brand. You don’t need to spend a lot however I wouldn’t suggest a cheaper conditioning product as it might not protect your hair as well.

I have dirty blond hair with auburn highlights in the sun and I want to dye hair with the boiling method. It won’t matter time wise because my school allows it. And I’m on the school wrestling team so I wear a cap(yes I’m a girl). I what to dye it electric blue or bright red. But I don’t really want the blue to turn green. Which color would show up better? How long should I leave my hair in the water?Oh and my hair is fluffy and curly……… What conditioner is best? How many a packs do I need? Any other colors that would work well in my hair(just not purple)? I really like neon or bright colors? Any way to make it super bright? I’m just doing the tips of my hair all around.How long should I let it sit? How long till I wash my hair if I want it very bright? My colors are bright red, light/bright green, bright blue and electric blue, which ones best for me?
Thanks so much!!!!!!
Maddie

I have dark brown hair with natural highlights (i.e. GRAY) and I am tired of trying to cover it with my natural dark brown color, and thought dyeing them a fun color would be..well, more fun. Have you, or anyone else, tried this on gray hair? How well does it work for that? I thought bright pink or purple would be fun, especially for an old lady like me! The hot method won’t be an option for my roots as I don’t want to burn my scalp, so I figured the cold/warm version might be best…what do you think?

Will it take on gray hair? When I had less gray, I used to use Natural Instincts, which was semi-permanent. Now they don’t make any pinks or purples. The effect is that the hair that’s still dark stays dark, and the gray goes pink. A very cool effect. But will the gray hair absorb it?

OMG! Last night I spent 2 hours studying every word on this page! I then RAN to the market and picked up a total of 60 sachets of Kool-Aid in 4 different flavors/colors! My daughter and I the used the boiling method to cook 15 pink lemonade and 5 red sachets. We then let the mixture cool to body temperature. Then we took a diposable turkey roaster pan and poured a solo cup full at a time over our pure white Persian cat! We were able to continue reusing the Kool-Aid mix by dumping it Back in the bowl from the. Pan. The cat now looks like he always should have! This combo only took from starting the mixture to the time I shut the blow dryer off! I used human shampoo and conditioner before I dried him. Imagine the joy a cotton candy colored big fluffy snuggly kitty will bring us!

Hi! I have dark brown hair, but I just want to take a small (but fairly thick) section of my hair (the part I normally tuck behind my ear) and dye it an greenish blue, aqua color. It doesn’t have to be super strong but I don’t want it to be faded either. I don’t know how to bleach my hair and honestly I don’t want to have to put in that much work to get it colored. And I want to do it with Kool Aid. Any suggestions/tips?

I have dark brown hair, that would only really show in the sun, but it doesn’t look black . I wouldn’t like to get my hair bleached, but do you know which kool-aid color would really show for the type of hair I have ?

I just wanted to say this helped a lot. And if you want to make your hair a little lighter so it will work, you can put lemon juice in your hair, leave it in for an hour or two then wash it. If you do this a few times, it will made your hair a little lighter and make it easier for the koolaid to show.

I have light blonde hair and i want to do the turquise color on it. will it actually turn that color with my bright hair. i want to keep it in for 3 months. what can i do to keep it in for that long???

Hi I have long blonde wavy hair and I did mine lemonade cool aid and only a little bit of my hair stayed yellow I think I did that part for the longest. My friends have brown hair and used the same one as me but it didn’t work. How can you make it stay in for longer than a few hours. What happens if you use orange on blonde hair? In our school were only aloud natural colours so any other natural colours?? X

Okay so the orange went orange for a while then after a few days it looked really nice and blended in lovely but it looked a bit ginger then I put the cherry one on and one side is bright red and the other side isn’t as bright the brightest side was when it was hot so I now no every time I use kool aid warm it for about 20 or 30 seconds

Hey! I really want to dip dye my hair with my friend over the summer. And, we live right by the pool so we would be in it a lot. If we were in the pool for most of the summer, would the kool-aid come out quicker? And if so, should we use the boiling water or cold water method? Thanks! xox

Hey. I have dirty blonde hair and I was thinking of dyeing a few streacks turquoise but my mum is araid that it will turn out horrible. How can I assure her that it will be okay? Also how will turqoise turn out in dirty blonde hair? Thank you.

Hey guys! I have never heard of the cold water method. but I do the boiling method and one thing I’m noticing is you guys are only leaving your hair in for 5 minutes. It should stay in for about 10. And when you take it out, blow dry then flat iron. It should stay for many months, but needs redone (to keep vibrant) every month. And Kristen, the pool will have a slight difference but if you blow dry then flat iron after dying, it keeps it in longer. You guys need the heat to lock it in. And Kool-aid isn’t short term, its stronger than semi-permanent, but not entirely permanent. And purple users, mix 2 black cherry and 2 berry blue/mixed berry. Purple simply comes out brown.

I have light brown hair with natural blonde highlights( my hair is thickkkk and wavy/curly btw.) I was thinking of dying the ends navy and a streak of the underside of my hair pink. I’m using the boiling method for the dip dye
•what combo would be best to get a dark navy
•what combo would be best to get a bright pink
•how long will it stay in
•will the navy fade to a different color
•will the pink fade to a different color
Any help would be MUCH appreciated, please. Thank you

Hey I have like a dark brown hair color and I want to dip dye my tips with tropical punch koolaid. I’m going to do it with the boiling water method. How long do you think it is going to stay for? do you think its going to be a nice color?

Hey I have like a dark brown hair color and I want to dip dye my tips with tropical punch koolaid. I’m going to do it with the boiling water method. How long do you think it is going to stay for? do you think its going to be a nice color?

Susie
is there a way to do kool aid hair dye faster WO using the boiling method? I want to dye just the top of my sons mowhawk one color and put a different color on the sides. I don’t think he’d make it overnight.

Hi everyone! I have very light brown hair, close to blonde. I wanted to dye my hair completely purple with kool aid, but I don’t have enough time for it to be overnight. I was looking around online if I could leave it in for 3-5 hours before rinsing it out and not have it all come out. I have an event on Friday that I’m going to but I have no free time this week besides Friday. is it possible to do all of my hair, then rinse it out after 5 or so hours of it sitting in, but not having just a tint of purple?
Thanks!

Hey,I have light brown hair thats wavy and in the sun i have auburn higlights.oh and I have natural blonde highlights too.anyway what color would look the best,just wanna dye my tips(maybe an inch).i have school in a couple of weeks,tips?

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